Skip to content
Grow In Backyard
Chickens

Can Squirrels Get Through 1 Inch Chicken Wire? Yes, Easily

Chicken wire keeps chickens in. It does not keep squirrels, rats or weasels out — they pass through the mesh or chew it. What to use instead.

By Salma 2 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A part-unrolled roll of hexagonal chicken wire against a post, in black and white
Photo: MabelAmber, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay
On this page

Chicken wire is named for what it does: it keeps chickens inside. Nothing about it keeps anything else out, and a squirrel treats 25 mm hexagonal mesh as a doorway.

What passes what

meshsquirrelratmouseweasel
25 mm hexagonal (chicken wire)yesyesyesyes
25 mm weldedchews it eventuallysometimesyesyes
12 mm welded hardware clothnonomostly nono
6 mm weldednononono

Where to spend the money

locationspecification
Coop walls, vents, pop-hole12 mm welded, 19 gauge
Perimeter apron12 mm welded, 30 cm, buried and turned outward
Run walls above 1 m25 mm welded is acceptable
Run roofmesh or solid, if raptors or corvids are about
Anywhere at ground level12 mm welded

A raccoon does not need to get in

It reaches through the mesh. A hen roosting against a chicken-wire wall can be grabbed and pulled into it without the predator entering the run at all — which is why a run that is intact in the morning is not evidence that the mesh worked.

The chain of events worth understanding

  1. A squirrel widens a hexagon to reach spilled feed
  2. The hole stays, and stops being about squirrels
  3. Rats use it — and rats take eggs, kill chicks and carry disease
  4. Something larger works at the enlarged opening

Store the feed properly and most of this stops

Squirrels are at the run for grain, not birds. Feed in a metal bin with a locking lid, no spillage under the feeder, and nothing left in the run overnight removes the reason to chew in the first place.

Common questions

Can a squirrel get through 1 inch chicken wire?

Yes. A grey squirrel passes through a gap of roughly 4–5 cm, and a 1 inch (25 mm) hexagonal mesh stretches — the twisted hexagons deform under pressure in a way welded mesh does not. Juveniles go straight through an undamaged panel. Adults widen a hexagon with their teeth and follow. Chicken wire is a containment material, not an exclusion one, and the name describes exactly what it does: it keeps chickens in.

What gets through 1 inch chicken wire?

Squirrels, rats, mice, weasels, stoats, young raccoons and snakes. Mice pass through 1 inch mesh without touching the sides. Weasels get through gaps under 25 mm. And a raccoon does not need to pass through at all — it reaches a paw through the hexagons and can pull a bird against the mesh, which is a common and unpleasant way to lose hens through a run that looked secure.

What should I use instead?

Welded galvanised hardware cloth at 12 mm (half inch) aperture, 19 gauge or heavier. It is welded rather than twisted, so it does not deform, and the aperture is below what any of the above can pass. It costs several times what chicken wire does and is the single most worthwhile expense in a coop. For the whole run, 25 mm welded mesh is an acceptable compromise, with 12 mm over the coop and any opening at ground level.

Does doubling up chicken wire help?

Marginally and unreliably. Two layers offset against each other reduce the open gap, but both layers still deform under pressure and both are still chewable. It is a fix worth making to an existing run you cannot replace tonight, and not a substitute for welded mesh when you are building.

Where does mesh matter most?

At ground level and on the coop itself. Bury a 30 cm apron of welded mesh turned outward around the perimeter against diggers, use 12 mm hardware cloth on every vent, window and pop-hole, and cover the run roof if squirrels, corvids or birds of prey are about. The upper run walls are where you can reasonably economise, not the base.

Will a squirrel actually hurt chickens?

Rarely directly — a squirrel is after feed, not hens, and the damage is mostly stolen grain and a chewed hole that lets something worse in afterwards. That is the real cost: the hole a squirrel makes in 1 inch mesh is the hole a rat uses, and rats do kill chicks and eggs. Treating squirrel damage as cosmetic is how a feed problem becomes a predator problem.

Backyard Weekly

Know what to plant, week by week

Join the weekly email for seasonal jobs, fixes for what is going wrong, and gear worth buying.

Not ready to subscribe? The planting calendar is free and needs no email.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Grow In Backyard will never sell your address.

Keep reading

A white hen foraging in long grass and buttercups
Backyard Animals ·

Backyard Chickens: What It Actually Takes

Space, cost, time, and the rules nobody mentions. An honest account of keeping backyard chickens before you buy the coop — including why the eggs are not free.